Kashmir police cadets turn violent

Scores of trainees at the Manigam police training school in the northern district of Ganderbal went on the nightlong rampage late Wednesday some 30 km from Srinagar. The violence subsided only Thursday morning.

The trainees shouted slogans against the school principal, alleging moral turpitude, financial corruption and use of abusive language. The trainees also damaged canteens and window panes at the barracks. They later took to the Srinagar-Leh highway, forcing traffic to halt on the busy route.

Many of the protesters masked their faces with handkerchiefs. On the streets, they snapped the electricity lines, plunging the entire area into darkness. Many of the trainees had been recruited during the government's drive in old city areas of Srinagar to address the problems of unemployed youths.

Police sources said the trainees had been agitating against the delay in their passing out parade.

The nightlong rampage lasted till early Thursday. Senior police officers had a tough time pacifying the trainees.

The hue and cry raised by the trainees at night created panic and fear in the adjacent villages where residents wondered if separatist guerrillas had attacked the police training school.